At Muskau they were given a 30 hour delay for recuperation and then marched another 20 miles to Spremberg. Of these 10,667 were British and Commonwealth troops, of which only 825 were in the main camp, while the rest were attached to various Arbeitskommando ("Labour Units"). Located at 56 degrees, 7 minutes North, 11 degrees, 27 minutes East. The fourth building was for the interrogating offices, files and records. The workers who constructed the original buildings were housed in camps near Fallingbostel and Bergen, the latter being the so-called Bergen-Belsen Army Construction Camp. Search them here now. As for the food, a bushel or two of steamed potatoes for a barn full of men was the best ever received at the end of a day. (7 days confined arrest, 7-13 Dec 1941). It should be noted that the Japanese did not allow inspections of their camps in Malaya or Singapore. Drama, War. Stalag II-E Schwerin Mecklenberg Location N/E 53-11. The Canadian Red Cross reported assembling and shipping nearly 16,500,000 food parcels during the Second World War, at $47,529,000. Fast-talking wheeler-dealer Corporal King is stuck in a Malaysian P.O.W. These are searchable by surname and sometimes by forename as well. There were constant, and very creative, escape attempts utilizing tunnels, disguises, forged papers and even hiding in a mattress. The sprawling prison complex was divided into compounds. Sagan became one of the most active escape camps of WWII and a constant thorn in the Nazis side. They were made by individuals identified by MI9/IS9 lists as having been directly involved with an escape organisation or who had some other significant function within the POW camp's internal organisation. These are less 'sanitised' than the latter and sometimes include additional documents, annotations to the narrative, interrogators notes and Appendix B (see below). An air strike on 6 December 1944 killed 118 POWs, there being no air raid shelter provided. The camp was liberated in May 1945 by troops of the British 7th Armoured Division, 2nd Army. Most Australian officers were concentrated into Sulmona, just as Australian NCOs and other ranks were gradually brought together to Campo 57. Visit this page for family history research enquiries, Excessive severity: Treason and the Grenadian Rebellion of 1795, A love story that threatened the Commonwealth: Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams, Introduction to conservation for digitisation, Accroaching royal power in 1380s London: The downfall of Nicholas Brembre, Friends of The National Used from November 1943 onwards, Pissiguano , previously called cc77. This march was one of the "Long Marches". Many of the prisoners also found inventive ways to get under the skin of their captors. Stalag VIII-B and Stalag Luft VIII-B Lamsdorf, Poland (now Lambinowice), Stalag VIII-B Teschen Poland Location N/E 49-18. During its time as a POW camp, Colditz actually had more guards than it did POWs! Over roof of Kellerhaus. The red brick stables were converted to barracks to house prisoners when the site was converted to a POW camp in October 1939. Established in December 1943 with men transferred from camps in Italy, mainly British Commonwealth officers from the Battle of Crete and North African Campaign. They caught the train to Stuttgart where they stayed overnight in a small hotel. In Germany, only those POWs from Britain, France, the Low Countries, the US, the Commonwealth and a few selected other countries were treated with any reference to the Geneva Convention's rules. In 1940 the Poles were joined by Belgian and French prisoners, and by Soviets in 1941. There were 209 officers held here as of 26/2/43 and the camp originally opened in May 1941. Director: When Britainwent to waron 3 September 1939 there was none of the 'flag-waving patriotism' of August 1914. Stalag XIII-D Nrnberg Langwasser was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp built on what had been the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg, northern Bavaria. 77 Pissignano / Campello sul Clitunno also known as Dulag 226 and CC77 (Perugia L'Aquila). Michael Redgrave, Stars: Solitary confinement: Barry cut through bars, Reid dug tunnel, Escaped from Colditz train station (returning from Lamsdorf), Attempted escape while on exercise in the park. The camp was built by forced labour. A list of Royal Marines known to have been imprisoned in German camps between 1939 and 1945 is to be found in ADM 201/111. An administration block including a hospital was erected in the latter part of 1940, mainly by prisoner labour. Stalag VIII-A Gorlitz (Moved to Moosburg Murenberg) Silesia Location N/E 51-15. Oflag VII-A Murnau was a German Army POW camp for Polish Army officers during World War II. When U.S. troops liberated Colditz in April 1945, 31 prisoners had successfully reached home after more than 300 attempts. The fortress had also served as an Oflag in World War I. New Zealand Brigadiers James Hargest and Reginald Miles escaped to Switzerland. However many of them were located in sub-camps. The Famous WWII POW Camp. Also, Papers dealing with the treatment of British POWs in German hands are in DEFE 2/1126-1128. On the 16th April Oflag IV C was captured by American soldiers from 1st US Army. The work performed was largely agricultural or industrial, ranging from coal or potash mining, stone quarrying, or work in sawmills, breweries, factories, railroad yards, and forests. Ron Arad - Israeli fighter pilot, shot down over Lebanon in 1986; not seen since 1988 and is presumed dead; Everett Alvarez, Jr. - Navy aviator, Vietnam War POW, held for 8 years, second longest period as a POW in American history (after Floyd James Thompson) B []. It may have been attached or close by Hospital H206? In November 1943, after the Italian armistice, Italian and Commonwealth prisoners arrived from Italy. While the plans to question all liberated POWs never materialised, these records still represent a large percentage of those in enemy hands in 1945. After the war Fort Rauch was completely demolished and a college now stands on the site. David Lean West -opened July 1944 for USAAF officers only. 2411 POWs mostly USAAF, evacuated to Stalag IV on 14/7/44. Stalag IX-C Bad Sulza Saxe-Weimar Location N/E 51-11, Stalag IX-C/Z Muhlausen Sachen, Prussia Location N/E 51-10. The POWs left in the camp were liberated by the Soviet army on 8 May 1945, however this liberation like many other camps meant they were simply robbed of anything valuable by their allies and locked back up until the Soviets allowed them to return home later. The camp itself was about one mile from the town railway station in Urbisaglia. Kenji Takaki, Access to full details of seamen born less than 100 years ago may be restricted. This housed 728 British and commonwealth and later a further 113 US personnel. 6,980 POWs held here all British in 1942 On Feb 26th 19437,314 were recorded as POWs. This was recorded in shorthand in a notebook labelled "Shorthand Reading Exercises. One of the most highly decorated POWs of the war was kept here, the only fighting soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice. For further information on war crimes see related research guides. Unfortunately, there were no suitable aircraft, so they decided to head to France and contact an escape line. Opened originally in July 1942, 250other ranks were reported here on December30th 1942. A group of war prisoners from the Kwai bridge building camp undertake a harsh journey to Japan. [6] A popular diversion was provided by the "Milag Jockey Club" which held race meetings every Saturday evening. Drama, War. We have German AND Italiancamp listings in our fully searchable databases! Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UKs exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located. It was created in November 1939 for Polish officers captured in the September campaign. It then it became Oflag XXI-B for French and British Commonwealth officers, subsequently for Soviet officers until June 1943. Consequently the Germans were able to capture them all. In 1941 and 1942 Soviet prisoners arrived. Dulag Luft or Durchgangslager der Luftwaffe (transit camp of the Luftwaffe) These were transit camps for Airforce POWs. The camp was created in 1941 as the base camp for a number of work-camps (Arbeitskommando) for prisoners of war working in the mines and industries of Upper Silesia. The camp was liberated in May 1945. They were forced to march under guard about 1520 miles (2432 km) per day. The Fund's operations include assistance to widows and orphans of fallen colleagues in the country, the fees for the lawyers defending prisoners before German courts, the payment of salaries of the cadets and soldiers, as well as cultural and educational activities. VIEW HERE A MAP OF POW CAMPS IN ITALY - PUBLISHED BY THE RED CROSS & ST. JOHN WAR ORGANISATION. 17m. Stars: Early 1945 reports have 27303 POWs with 491 officers, 214 of which were British, later reports show 217 British, 17 US, 9439 Soviets, 40 Belgians, 299 Yugoslavs, 1835 Italians and 5030 French. In 1942 a large camp (Stalag 323) was built for Soviet prisoners, it was located at the other end of the training ground. Using cigarettes, watches, rings or whatever they had to trade with the farmers along the way, for food. On 5 February, Polish General Tadeusz Br-Komorowski, deputy commander of the Armia Krajowa (Home Army) and responsible for the Warsaw Uprising, arrived with his entourage. | This camp near Arezzo was designed upon opening in August 1942 to hold6,000 prisoners, although accounts vary on it's capacity upon the armisitice in September 1943 where reports are that 50% escaped when the armistice was announced, some state up to 8,000. Located near the town of Bergen in Lower Saxony. On 24 July, 68 Dutch officers arrived, mostly members of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army, who had refused to sign a declaration that they would take no part in the war against Germany. Fort 12 (XII) named after Wladyslawa Jagielty. There was an outbreak of typhus in early 1942. Neubrandenburg camp was liberated by the Soviets in April 1945. Terence Alexander, Not Rated They were housed in the open while huts were being built. The first Soviet prisoners arrived in October 1941, and were housed in a separate enclosure. In the centre of the camp was camp kitchen and canteen. The sounds of the encroaching American artillery could be heard getting louder and louder at this camp. In 1939 as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact it was annexed by the Soviets and on July 26, 1941 was occupied by the Nazis and is now in the Ukraine. About 5% of the Soviet prisoners who died . Situated near Lauchammer between a foundry and a gun finishing factory, no information on POWs held. Stalag IV-B Muhlberg Sachsen Location N/E 51-13. Terms of Service apply. Carl Mhner, Opened originally in May 1942, 460other ranks were reported here on December30th 1942., this may well be the figure for all of the work camps however. Twice as many KL inmates were then housed in, the already overcrowded, British POW barracks here. As the war progressed, prisoners of other nationalities arrived at Stalag V-A. British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it. The War Office Registered Files (WO 32 (code 91)) and the Directorate of Military Operations Collation Files (WO 193/343-359) both contain material on Allied POWs. 'Under construction' on USSME reports of late 1943 it appears this camp was relocated possibly from Bolzano to Acquapendente (Viterbo) at some point. It was surrounded by a countryside divided into huge fields of wheat and oats, and the city of Altamura could be seen in the distance. It was supposed to be the most secure German POW camp so was specifically used as the prison of last resort for Allied officers who had previously attempted escape or were otherwise high risk. From the elitist members of the Colditz Bullingdon Club to America's oldest paratrooper and least successful secret agent, the soldier-prisoners of Colditz were courageous and resilient as well as vulnerable and fearful -- and astonishingly imaginative in their desperate escape attempts. In October 1942 the camp was repopulated with Jews and run by the infamous Amon Goth (Later the commandant of Plaszow KZ concentration camp) this had many thousands of Jews brought here from the Warsaw Ghetto, and these were the Jewish families (men, women and children) who were working for various German run firms in the locale, particularly the Toebbens uniform factory. Initially, in the autumn of 1940, the camp was occupied by some 70 officers coming from the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.